Board of Education

The Board of Education encourages your participation in its deliberations and has tried to make it convenient for you to express your views. 

Public comment opportunities will be available through Zoom and in person. Instructions on how to access the Zoom meeting can be found at the start of each meeting agenda. 

Public comment cards for both open forum and agendized items will be accepted starting at 6:30 p.m. on the day of the meeting. To maintain the order of speakers and accurately capture comments, please submit a virtual speaker card in advance.

The allocation of speaking time is as follows, based on the number of speakers:

• 1-10 speakers: 2 minutes each
• 11-15 speakers: 1.5 minutes each
• 16 or more speakers: 1 minute each

Open Forum

The purpose of Open Forum is for members of the public to address the Board on non-agenda items. Speaking time cannot be delegated to another person; the name on the submitted speaker card must match the name of the individual speaking.

Board members or district staff members may briefly respond to statements made or questions posed by the public but cannot take action on non-agenda items.

Beginning April 22, 2025, the following updates will apply to the Open Forum portion of our meetings:

• Open Forum will be limited to 30 minutes total.
• Speaker sign-ups will remain open until the first speaker concludes. At that time, no additional names will be added to the list.
• If time does not allow all speakers to be heard during the 30-minute window, Open Forum will resume at the conclusion of all other agenda items, including Information items.
• Only individuals who signed up prior to the end of the first speaker remarks will be eligible to speak during the resumed portion.
• Each individual may speak once during Open Forum and may not yield or transfer their time to another speaker.

Agendized Items

The general order of regular agenda items is as follows:

• Staff presentation
• Community participation
• Board deliberation and decision, if applicable

Special Meetings/Study Sessions

Due to the short notice often associated with posting special meetings and study sessions, there is no Open Forum at these meetings. The public is welcome to address any item posted on the agenda. As these meetings are less formal, the format for discussion may vary slightly from regular meetings.

Requests to Add an Item to a Future Agenda

To request an item for the Board's agenda, submit a written request with any supporting documents to the Superintendent. The Board president, vice president, and Superintendent have the discretion to decide if the request falls within the Board's jurisdiction, whether it should appear on the agenda immediately or at a later date, and if it should be discussed in open or closed session, requires a vote, is informational, or is a routine consent item without anticipated discussion.

Each year the Board of Education members liaise to schools and committees in order to build relationships, hear from staff, students, and families, and to act as a conduit for information to and from the schools, Palo Alto Partners in Education (PiE), and the PTA Council.

Background

The Board and Superintendent are committed to the most effective and efficient working relationship possible for the governance team. The protocols guide the Board and Superintendent work, so everyone can devote their full energy to focusing on our students.

Purpose

The Board of Trustees is the educational policy-making body for the District, doing its work in meetings of the board in public. To effectively meet the District’s challenges, the Board and Superintendent must function together as a leadership team. To ensure the collective effectiveness of the team, operating procedures, or protocols, must be in place. Below are general protocols and those that are specific for the Board and for the Superintendent.

• Adopted: September 11, 2007
• Reviewed: December 20, 2007
• Reviewed: January 15, 2008
• Readopted: January 29, 2008
• Updated: February 12, 2013
• Reviewed: January 13, 2025